Disclaimer: I still do not own Golden Sun.

A/N: By the way, sorry, everyone, for the delay for the last chapters.

Lord Destroyer, yeah, I did come across her. Oh, and did you notice the Steamshipping/Flameshipping hint Garet's grandfather gives off? "Hmm...I wonder who Garet likes better...Jenna or this girl?" LOL! I hate heights, too. Thanks for all your reviews!

"Hello, how may I help you?" asked the woman.

We were at the Kalay docks, ready to board the ship to Tolbi. The boat was scheduled to set off in half an hour.

"We'd like four boat tickets, please." I replied.

"Four? That comes up to...six hundred coins."

I looked at her in dismay and turned to my companions. "Do we have enough?"

Ivan shook his head. "Altogether, we have two hundred and fourty-nine coins."

Garet looked upset. "But we have to go!"

"I know, Garet," I answered, trying to keep my snappishness in check. "But what do we do?"
Ivan fidgeted. "I have an idea...it would not be very trustworthy, though..."

"What is it?" Garet demanded.

At the same moment, Mia shook her head. "We can't!"

Garet looked hurt. "I wasn't planning on going along with it!"

I stepped in. "Let's hear it, just to be safe."

Ivan kept fidgeting, shifting from foot to foot and pulling at strands of his pale blonde hair. "Well...Garet could call Fever to come out, and the lady would catch a cold. And then..."
"I could heal her." Mia finished. "Definitely not."
Ivan did something very un-Ivanlike just then. He glared at her. I stiffened. This felt like the Lamakan all over again. "Mia, it was just an idea!"

"Wait, everyone." Garet ordered. He was standing by the window. "Look."

We clustered around.

"A Djinni!" I gasped. "A Venus Djinni!"

We were out the door in a flash. Unfortunately, the landslide that blocked Silk Road blocked the Djinni from us.

Flint! Flint! I need you!

Flint appeared promptly. "Ground!" he squeaked in delight. "It's you!"

"Who's there?" Ground wondered.

"Flint, your brother!"

Oh, no! Flint had a brother! My worst nightmare! I covered my face in my hands. "NO!" I wailed. "Noooooooooooooo..."

Ivan patted me sympathetically. Then he froze. "What if...what if there's another one like Gust?"
His terror was so real I couldn't help it. I started laughing.

"Flint!" Ground shouted, bringing me back to the horrible reality. "I can't reach you!"

Flint considered for a moment. "We're going across the sea. We should be able to get to you then."
I breathed a sigh of relief. The dreaded moment was delayed, at least for a little while.

"All right! See ya!" Ground called after us. Flint set himself once more.

"We're still in the same mess we were." Mia complained.

A grin spread across Ivan's face. "Maybe not. What just happened gave me an idea."
"What? Hold out Flint and make them pay us for him to shut up?" Garet asked skeptically.

"No, nothing like that. I just...remembered something. A favor long owed to me. Back in Kalay." Ivan explained, heading back to the city. "I'll be right back."

Five minutes later, he returned, holding a box of coins. He dumped the load of currency onto the counter. The clerk shoveled it over to her side greedily and handed us four boat tickets.

"Tell us," I demanded as soon as we'd left the building. "How on Weyard did you get that?"

Ivan smiled a secretive smile. "Like I said, a favor."

No matter how much the three of us questioned, he refused to elaborate, and so we had to board the ship before it sailed off without us.

We passed a woman as we were heading up to the ship. "You're boarding the ship, right?"
I nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Well, if you see a young woman waiting for her parents, tell her that her mother says the tickets were too expensive," she requested.

"No problem," Garet agreed.

We showed the man our tickets and boarded the ship. People were clustered in little groups, chattering excitedly about Tolbi. I managed to catch some snippets of conversation.

"-yes, Babi, he's supposed to be quite strange-"

"-I'm going to win!-"

"I wonder what could have happened." wondered a deep voice. It was who I guessed to be the captain. He was speaking to two sailors, one with a blue bandanna and one with a deep red beard.

"You mean you still intend to cross this dangerous sea?" Blue Bandanna asked incredulously.

"It would be too big a loss to let so many passengers get away," the captain figured sensibly.

Blue Bandanna turned to Red Beard. "Say, Kaja, how are the oarsmen doing?"

Kaja winked. "They're fearless. There's no problem there. It's just that..."
"'It's just that'...what?" the captain demanded.

Kaja gulped. "If a whole bunch of...you know...appear when we're crossing...I won't be able to handle them alone."

The captain didn't seemed worried. "You'll have to. I can't waste anyone else to fight."
"It's not wasting!" Kaja protested.

"The oarsmen will have their hands full rowing," continued the captain. "There's nothing we can do...let's set sail!"

The other sailor turned pale. "What do you mean? If we set sail now, we'll never make it to Tolbi!"
"We'll be fine," the captain assured them confidently. "We have an amulet protecting us, don't forget!"
"Amulet?" repeated Kaja. "You mean your little anchor thing?"

"The 'little anchor thing' has always protected us!"

"Get ahold of yourself!" the sailor with the blue bandanna ordered. "You're a captain! You should be better than foolish superstitions!"

The captain looked angry, but he spoke calmly. "Even if we can't find fighters, this charm will protect us. Now, let's hurry up! Prepare to set sail!"

The three headed off in different directions. I exchanged a glance with the others and we stumbled into the passenger deck. Two warriors were arguing with one of the tour guides from the inn in Kalay.

"That's it!" one of the warriors cried finally. Followed by the guide and the other warrior, he stomped out of the quarters. "I'm going to see the captain about this!"

"We better go there," I suggested. The others nodded, and we headed toward the captain's quarters.

A/N: Very short. I know. But I need a new chapter for a fresh thought.